Sun Yingsha makes history with third Worlds

Sun Yingsha has done what no woman in the history of the sport has ever done before. The world number one, defeated teammate Wang Manyu 11-9, 11-8, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7 to claim the women’s singles title the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup in Macao.

She claimed an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup title, joining Fan Zhendong as the only players in World Cup history to achieve three consecutive singles titles, a feat the Chinese men’s star accomplished across 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The scoreline of 4-1 tells only part of the story. It was an intense, absorbing final between two of the finest players in the women’s game, with Manyu pushing Yingsha hard in every game and refusing to make anything straightforward.

The third game alone was a battle of the highest order, stretching to 13-11 before Yingsha took the game and Manyu’s response in the fourth, taking it 11-8 to stay in the contest, was a reminder of just how fine the margins were throughout. In the end, it was Yingsha’s experience, composure and sheer class that proved the difference.

The road to a third title was far from straightforward. In the Round of 16, Yingsha faced teammate Kuai Man, a player who had defeated her just weeks earlier at the WTT Champions in Chongqing.

In the quarterfinals came perhaps the greatest challenge of Yingsha’s week, when Africa Cup winner Hana Goda pushed the world number one to seven games in the longest match of the entire tournament, forcing her to save two match points in the deciding game before Yingsha finally prevailed 4-3. That she came through both matches, and then produced the performance she did in the final, speaks to a mentality and quality that is simply without equal in the Women’s game right now.

It is a quality that has been recognised for some time. Just two weeks ago, Yingsha reached 200 consecutive weeks as world number one, a landmark that underlines the sustained excellence she has brought to the sport. And arriving in Macao, China fresh from victory over ng Manyu in the Singapore Smash final, Yingsha carried the confidence of a player in the form of her life. Tonight, on the biggest stage of all, she showed exactly why she stands at the top.